God's beauty and my hatred of flying

There are few things in this world that give me greater anxiety than flying. Usually I just sit there through the whole flight, clutching the arms rests and trying not to overanalyze every little bump and noise. So you can imagine how I felt on our recent honeymoon flight - eight hours, the majority which was spent over the Atlantic ocean. Into about the fourth hour coming home, when I really starting to go nuts, I looked out the window and was rewarded with the most amazing sunset I've ever seen. It made me stop worrying for a minute and thank God for the beauty he has given us here on Earth.

An equally amazing site was the Alps, peaking out through the clouds on our flight from Munich to Barcelona. The pictures just don't do it justice!

Florence and Pisa

I think Florence was our favorite city. We had time to bum around on our own for about four hours and we definitely took the city by storm! We visited the Chiesa di Santa Croce, the Duomo (the famous church with the big red dome), climbed to the top of the Duomo bell tower (414 stairs... seriously thought I was going to die!), had some gelato and played tourist on the Ponte Vecchio bridge. I bought a beautiful painting of Tusacany from a nice man on the street and we were happy campers.

Pisa was a bit underwhelming, but definitely a cool place to visit for about 45 minutes.

gelato!!!

the Duomo

we climbed, we conquered the 414 stairs up and the 414 stairs down (did I mention dark, narrow, stone steps, people going up and down in the same small space stairwell?)

the view from the top was so worth it though

the famed Ponte Vecchio

Pisa reflections (I think this one is my favorite of the series!)

the Field of Miracles

Pisa lovin

Hiking Up Mt. Vesuvius, Pompeii and the Best Pizza EVER

Instead of bumming around Naples the day our boat docked there, Brad and I signed up to do a hike up Mt. Vesuvius and a tour of Pompeii. This was one of the best decisions we made all honeymoon! The hike was one of the most physically trying things I have ever done in my entire life. It was a very steep, uneven path. It was almost like hiking up sand at a 75 degree incline! We hiked up about 1,000 feet, and the views from the top were well worth it!

After the hike and a short bus ride, we toured Pompeii, which was absolutely amazing. To see an ancient city so well preserved that you could still see the frescos painted on the walls was absolutely breathtaking.

Before returning to the boat, we stopped at a little restaurant in Naples where we had, I swear, the best pizza I've ever had in my entire life! I would rank this pizza in probably the top ten best foods I've ever had. I've had pizza once since we returned and it was SO disappointing!!

we made it!

Brad at the top... you can see to the bottom of the crater

view of Napoli from the top

Pompeii's main drag

Mt. Vesuvius over looking Pompeii's town square

BEST. PIZZA. EVER!!!

(yes, I did eat the second half with very little help)

Palmero

I really liked Palmero, even though we weren't there very long. Brad and I basically got lost, looking for churches and wandering residential streets. We were lucky enough to stumble upon a church that was just starting their noon Mass and attended Mass together. It was a very moving experience, even though we couldn't really understand what they were saying!

Roma

We both really enjoyed Rome and are looking forward to a return visit when we can really take in the sights and appreciate all the history and significance of it all.

the ceiling inside the Vatican Museum

the famed Sistine Chapel ceiling... it was amazing!

newlyweds in front of St. Peter's Basilica

Brad in front of the Colosseum

Villefranche

Our first stop on our cruise was in Villefranche, France. This was probably one of my favorite places of the whole trip (ok, heck, every place was my favorite place!). We didn't have any shore excursions planned, just walked aound the little side streets and saw every day people going about their Sunday morning business. We found a little place to get sandwiches for lunch and sat by the marina and ate them. It was just a lovely day in southern France!

many people know my love of taking pictures of unique windows and doors

lunchtime

maybe one of my most favorite pictures I've ever taken

Villefranche reflections... you'll see these throughout our trip

that's our big boat in the background!

Back from the honeymoon!

Since I took almost 1,000 pictures on the honeymoon (that's only an exaggeration by about 30 pictures), I thought I would break my posts up. Today I bring you all the colors of La Bouqeria, the market in Barcelona. (NOTE: not for vegtarians!)